Door structure



0. F. DRAPER boon STRUCTURE April 21, 193.1.

Filed Sept. 29, 1927 I m em on CLIFFORD F DE/IPEE BY 7W HTTOE/YE) Patented Apr. 21, 1931 PATENT OFFICE CLIFFORD F. DR'APER, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN noon. STRUCTURE 7 Application filed September 29, 1927. Serial No. 222,803.

This invention relates to door structures, and particularly to that type thereof commonly made of wood for use in connection with buildings and the like, theprincipal object being the provision of a new and novel construction whereby a stronger and more .efiicient door results.

-Another object is to provide a door of the wooden type souconstructed as to prevent 10 shrinkage of the door dueto the ageing of the wood, or the etfectjof theatmosphere upon the same. a I

Another object is to provide a door .of the wooden type so formedas to prevent sagging of the door in use.

Another object is to prov de a .door of the wooden type provided with .a-conrposite wood and metal core and so formed that the metal portion thereof serves to maintain the .door

in its true shape and preyents warping, shrinking or otherdeformations of thedoor, in use. V v

A furtherobject is to provide .a door having-a-core made up of strips .of metalchannel suitably secured together to form a flame, wooden core members cooperating therewith to forma complete core, and wooden coverings .being-providedon each side of thecore and secured thereto. 7 I

The above being among the @objects of the present .inventiomthe same consists in-cer- I features of construction and combinationsofparts to-be hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying .drawing,', and then claimed, havingtheabove andotherobects in view.

Intheaccompan-ying drawing: Fig.1 is aside elevation.ofthemetalframe portion of .a core forua door formed in ;ac-'

cordance withthe presentinvention Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional :view taken on the line A rA of Big. ,1.

'Fig. 3 is a fragmentary side view .of the metallic -=core portion for :a .door having a curved or rounded .top. a

Wooden doors are desirable for .use in building structures for. a avariety. of different reasons among which are cheapness, appear ance and noise insulation. The-rears how 0 lever, various-disadvantages ,whiehhavehercti e yto the same Width asthe cross members toforev been inherent in such doors that, so" far as I am aware, had'never been overcome. Some of these disadvantages are that the door will shrink or swell in accordance with the conditions of the atmosphere; that such doors 5 invariably sag in time, and that such doors" often warp or twist.

V The present invention provides a construction which retains all of theadvantages of the conventional all-Wood door and yet by its practice eliminates all of the disadvantages heretofore pointed out. 1 do this by up all of the stresses to which the dOQr is subjected and to maintain the door at substantially constant uniform dimensions. 1, then provide such a frame with cooperating wood core members to which the wooden front and rear faces ,of the door may be secured to thereby provide a completedoor I structure. Although the metal portion of the door may assume various shapes and positioningof parts'and may be formed of Va rious metal shapes, I prefer to form the same of channel iron, thereby obtaining a maximum strength and at the-same time provid- 80 ing sockets in which ,various of the WOOden core members may be received.

As illustrated in Fig. 1, the metallic frame may take the shape shown which comprises a pair of spaced vertically extending channel members 5 provided with a transverse channel member 6 at the upper end thereof connected thereto and projecting out past the frame members .5Von each side. A similar transverse member 7 is provided at the lower endof the channel members 5. A pairof spaced transverse channel members 8 and 9 are provided between the vertical channel vmembers 5 intermediate the channel members 6 and 7. Short channel members 10 and 11 ,secured to the outer edges of the vertical channel members 5 and which may be in transverse alignment with the cross members 8 and 9, act

tocontinuethe cross members Sand 9 respec- 6 and 7. Vertical channel members 12 connect the outer ends of the channels 6 and 10 and extend from the channels 10 to a point spaced above the channel 6 where they are connected together with a transverse channel member 13. The vertically extending channel members 14 connect the outer ends of the channels 7 and 11 and extend from the channels 11 to a point spaced downwardly from the channel 7 where they are connected together by a cross member 15 of channel section. All of these channel members are suitably secured together either by mortise and tenon joints, riveting, brazing, welding or other suitable means so that all of the channel members are rigidly secured together into an integral or unitary structure which forms the metallic portion of the core. The side members 12 are preferably spaced from each other an amount slightly less than the total width of the. finished door so as to prevent possible decrease in the width of the door due to the shrinkage of the wood as will later be described. The channel members 10 and 11 are so positioned with respect to each other and to the door as a whole that the locking means for the finished door is positioned between them in order to facilitate the application of the same.

To this metallic frame is then applied a plurality of wooden core members which may vary in size and shape but may take the following described form, these core members are preferably of the same lateral dimensions as the channel members. A coremember may be applied to the top of the upper channel 13 as at 16 and another to the bottom of the. channel 15 as at 17, each extending across the full width of the door. Core members such as 18 are then applied to the edges of the metal frame from top to bottom, such core members being formed to also fit against the outer edge faces of the channels 10, 5 and 11. Core members such as 19 are inserted in the rectangles formed by the channels 5, 6, 10 and 12 and preferably completely fill the rectangles formed by the channels 5, 7, 11 and let. Other wooden core members such as 21 and 22 may be applied to the lower and upper faces of the channel members 7 and 6 respectively, and still other wooden core members such as 23 and 24 may be applied to the lower and upper faces of the channels 8 and 9 respectively. It will be noted that a considerable amount of space between the channel members may be left unfilled and void of core members, such as the spaces bounded by 12, 13, 1-2 and 22; 5, 6, 5 and 8; 5, 23, 5 and 24; 14,21,1 1 and 15; or as shown in Fig. 2, by 5, 6, 5 and 8. This construction makes the door light without materially reducing its strength or resistance to warping. When such spaces are left between the core members, the front and rear faces 26 of wood veneer bridge right across the spaces as shown in Fig. 2. If desired these spaces may be filled with core members. Other of such wooden core members may be applied to the various channels when deemed necessary. The various wooden core members where applied to the open side of the channel members are preferably machined out as at 25 in Fig. 2 so as to fit therein.

Wooden front and rear faces 26 are then applied to the completed core by gluing, screwing or otherwise suitably securing them to the various wooden core members to form the completed door. The faces 26 may take any desirable form such as the conventional slab type of door or panel type.

A door thus formed is provided with a metal framework of great strength and rigidity which serves to maintain the door in its true form against warping or twisting. Furthermore, in view of the fact that the core members 16, 17 and 18 around the outside edges of the metal frame preferably do not exceed two inches in dimension beyond such framework, the only shrinkage in the external dimensions of the door can take place only through shrinkage of these relatively small members, which is practically nothing as far as practical consideration is concerned. The core members 18 between the channel members 5, 10 and 11 serve to receive the lock mechanism.

The particular embodiment of the metal framework shown may obviously be varied to suit various desires or necessities that may arise. For instance, where a rounded top door is being constructed, the framework may be varied as indicated in Fig. 3, in which the upper member 13 shown in Fig. 1 may be replaced by amember such as 27 and the wooden core built around the same as at 28, as will be apparent. Furthermore, in doors of unusual widths, diagonal channel members (not shown) may be provided if desired, to further insure against sagging.

By proper use of material a door of the type described may be constructed which will weigh very little. if any, more than a well built wooden door, and at the same time it will be free from distortion such as warping, twisting or shrinkage, and will give maximum service and life in use.

Formal changes may be made in the specific embodiment of the invention described with out departing from the spirit and substance of the broad invention, the scope of which is commensurate with the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A composite door comprising, in combination, a unitary metal frame, a plurality of spaced wooden panel supporting blocks positioned in co-planar relation with respect to said frame, and a wooden panel overlying each side of said frame concealing said frame and fixed relative thereto by securement to said blocks.

2. A composite door comprising, in combination, a unitary metal frame having a plurality of rectangular openings therein, a plurality of spaced wooden panel supporting blocks positioned in co-planar relation with respect to said frame and at least partially filling a part of said openings, and a wooden panel on each side of said frame completely concealing the same and fixed relative there- I to by being secured to said blocks.

3. A composite door comprising, in combination, a unitary self-supporting metal frame, the outsidedimensions of which are slightly less than that of the finished door desired, and provided with a plurality of rectangular openings between the various members thereof, a plurality of wooden panel supporting blocks completely surrounding the periphery of said frame, a plurality of wooden panel supporting blocks partially filling some of said openings, all of said blocks being positioned in co-planar relation with respect to said frame, and a panel for each side of said door completely concealing said frame and fixed relative thereto by being secured to said blocks.

CLIFFORD F. DRAPER. 

